a. good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. we're just a week away from the start of may know league baseball. for the first time in 108 years, the cubs are the defending world series champions. their fairytale victory forced bob newhart to change his act. the world's second most famous cubs fan was still delighted they made history. we'll talk about the famous season. newhart was just released on dvd. we're glad you joined us for bob newhart. coming up right now.

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> pleased to welcome bob newhart back to this program. he's been delighting with us his comedy for more than 50 years. the final season of newhart was released on dvd including the surprise ending that is still considered one the of best in tv history.

to refresh your memory, here is that famous scene from the newhart series finale. >> honey -- honey, wake up. you won't believe the dream i just had. don't you want to hear about it? [ laughter ] all right, bob, what is it? >> i was an inn keeper in this crazy little town in vermont. >> that was one of the best endings ever. >> and my wife's idea.

she came up with it. yeah, yeah. we were in the sixth year of the show one day. and i was kind of unhappy with cbs for moving us around and putting shows in front of us and behind us. and we were at a christmas party and we were waiting to have the picture taken in the people's hole we were at. and i said, un, honey, i think this will be the last year of the show. and she said, she said you ought to end it in a dream sequence. because everything was so crazy. it was so surreal. the maid was an heiress. and larry, darrell and darrell who i thought were straight out of deliverance. what they were doing in vermont,

i don't know. i said that's a great idea. so susie, suzanne was there. she said if i'm in tim buck too, i'll be back in a new york minute. and the audience didn't know. you could tell by the reaction. >> it was a total surprise. >> when they saw it, they didn't even see susie or myself. they saw the bedroom set and they knew it was from the bob newhart show and they started applauding the bedroom set. it was wild. >> it was a great surprise if ever there was one. you and i were talking before we came on camera and i was saying, in some ways, speaking of suzanne pleasureett. you're the last man standing. you're 88 this year? >> i'll be 88 in september. >> 88 in september. >> still fooling them. still making them laugh.

you've been so blessed, my word, not yours. >> i feel the same way. i've been very blessed. we were talking during make-up. we were talking with the first album. it was the very first album, will copp comedy record. >> you were living in japan at the time. >> we were in houston, texas. and we thought it might go 10,000 records. and gist the went crazy all over the country. it went to number one and then the number two album. and then the number two album went to number one. so then i had the number one and number two album for like 20 weeks. but i didn't even know it. i didn't know i had that record. my daughter, her husband was in the music business, she called me up and she said, dad, you

know you just lost a record. i said what was that? she said, guns and roses. had the number one and number two album longer than you've had it. and i said, well, at least it went to a friend. we talked all the time. i was on the -- [ laughter ] >> after all these years, as you mentioned a moment ago. you're still doing a dozen shows a year? >> about ten, 12 shows a year. stand-up. >> and like, what does that consist of? classic stuff? new stuff? a mixture of classic and new? >> a mixture. i'll do one or two from the the album. and then rest is all just observations on this crazy world that we live in.

and it is true. the only way to survive is to laugh. that's the only way. my wife, we've been married 54 years. january, 54 years. someone once asked me, what is the reason? i said i think laughter has a lot to do with how long a marriage lasts. and it is true among comedians. jack benny was married to mary for a long time. buddy hackett. there's something about laughter and longevity of a marriage. >> what do you make of the fact stuff did you on record 50 years ago still kills in front of an audience a half century later? >> luck. i mean, i didn't plan it. >> but the jokes, the material, it says something about the

material. >> well, because it is still true. i mean, the funny stuff. then i had the submarine commander, which is about being in service. that still exists. and then i had abe lincoln talking to his press agent. and i mean, that's even more relevant than 50 years ago. >> yeah. so i can imagine abe lincoln talking to sean spicer. >> he would get mad. >> which leads me to this. if you have done it, i have never seen you do it. you don't really toil in political stuff. >> no. >> in your stand-up. why have you avoided that, number one, it seems to me that nowadays, these trump jokes are

writing themselves. >> yeah. well, you lose half your audience. that's one reason. >> okay. that makes sense. [ laughter ] >> i never got into that. i didn't feel that was my role to convince people of the way i felt. you know. because they like me, a television series, or they're enjoying my albums. that's no reason to vote for who i'm going to vote for. i just never felt that. >> let's go back to this newhart series, and the series of questions before that. those series are still playing on tv somewhere, like every day, it seems. i watch the bob newhart shows. i love the me tv channel. i love me. i watch it all the time. to what do you adistribute you

to fact again, those shows like the jokes on the records are still playing and people are still laughing at the material. >> well, people tell me that. they go back to that time in their life and it was very special to them. the world wasn't nearly as crazy as it is today, politically, not as crazy as it is today. and they just go back to those, to that time and a wonderful time in their life. plus, great actors, great cast and great writing. my secret was to get a great cast and great writing and take all the credit myself, and it worked. >> do you watch anything today? comedy stuff on tv? >> modern family.

this is us. big bang theory. >> you're involved in that. >> and i kind of avoid watching the comedy shows. they're sterile. as you can tell, it was a live audience. mary tyler moore and all in the family and us. every show did a show in front of a live audience because you got the feedback. the writers had to write better. today, someone walks in and says hi and there is a huge laugh. what's funny about hi? >>. [ laughter ] >> i take your point. if you, just imagine for a second.

how do you figure you would do furm start yg you are comedy career now versus 50 years ago? >> i would probably sell about 20,000 records, i think. instead of the 1.5 million. >> why do you say it? >> well, i've had to adjust to it on the big bang theory. it started with laugh-in. i was playing at desert inn and the sands. i was doing my record material. and i noticed when laugh-in came on, like the attention span of the audience became shorter and shorter and shorter. and so i had to compress the original down to, you know, where the audience was. and it is more true today. susie and i had a scene where we both took an iq test.

and it must have taken a minute and a half to set up the joke. and the story was, there was a beautifully written joke. we took an iq test. i said to susie, you never told me how did you on the iq test. bob, i don't think it's that important how you did. honey, please. i had four more years of college than you did. she said yours was 119. i said well, that's good. that's gifted. that's gifted. what was yours? and she said, well, i don't know. honey, i had four years of college. she said money was 122. i said, well, money was 119 and yours was 122.

which is a difference -- which -- and she said it's 3. [ laughter ] >> we love it. >> that took us a minute. you don't have that kind of time. the audiences, their attention span is just less. bang, bang, bang. joke, bang. >> how difficult was it to adjust to that style given how you've done it all these years? >> you have to. you know, you just have to. >> but your style to set it up. >> in today's world, if you want to survive in it, you have to adjust to -- jack benny was one of the great adjusters to time. >> yeah. >> well, you figured it out.

you're still doing it. so it's been a great conversation so far. now we're getting to the fun stuff here. when you were here last, what was this? >> as soon as that came out of my mouth, i said, i walked into that joke chin up, booty out. you can't do it with a comedian. what i was trying to get to, mr. newhart. when you last sat in that chair, the chicago cubs were not the world champions that they are. now they get to start a new season in a few days with that distinction. you have been a lifelong cubs fan. where were you? take the time, set it up. where were you? how did you process it? you've been living with this your whole life. >> i was 16 years old in chicago. and the kubls won 1945.

the cubs won the national league pendant. and they had this big parade down lasalle street. we were riding in convertibles. i was a 16-year-old kid waving with my hat. and that was 71 years ago. and it was in 1945. now, 1945 was the end of world war ii. and most able bodied men were off to war. which was the year, the last time the cubs won the national league pennant. all the able bodied men were off to war. [ laughter ] had so 71 years. and then i got to see the cubs win the pennant.

the pre game started. i was at home and i was watching. it was a dodger game. and the cubs were down. it was like the bottom of the eighth and the dodgers were ahead 5-3. 5-3. so the cubs are up. now, the cubs were ahead 6-5. now, they bring in, 105 miles an hour. he throws ball. he strikes out the side. i extend tweet to one of the people i know in the cubs organization. look, i'm 87 years old. i can't take this. you know? will you please have had four more runs? the cubs players --

[ laughter ] now, i do an impression. 105 miles an hour. i do an impression, 105 writers. okay, come on, baby. let's see what you got. let me see what you got, baby. he hasn't thrown it yet. >> so how big is your process -- so that's the dodger series. and i went to two of those. how did you process the final round where these guys are in chicago, have a couple chances to close it out and they can't. how did you handle that? >> not well.

we would take a picture with the flag. i was sure when the cubs were down two games, i said it's over. okay. and then they went to cleveland and they won it. and it was incredible. >> remarkable fashion. >> and i'm waiting for the day when they say, we've got to break up the cubs. like the yankees. everybody knows they're going to win. >> that would be someday. >> you were quite an athlete in your day. >> you wouldn't think so. [ laughter ] i heard some laughter. apparently you don't think so either. >> football. i played football. the running back.

in high school and then college, i thought i would get a scholarship. you know, on the fake handoff. i would yell out, i don't have it. [ laughter ] i didn't want to get hurt, you know. >> you're killing me. >> now i play, i play in the celebrity sports writers. at dodger stadium. the first time i played, they put me in right field. remember -- yeah. he was the first baseman for the cubs. and man, my father-in-law bill

quinn, he was a bar tender on rifleman. so i'm playing right field and i don't want to embarrass him. i'm playing right field. i'm very happy nothing was hit. the it started tailing off. coming to right field. so i'm running like hell and i see it. and i dive. like this. and i stop. the ball landed about there. i'm looking at the ball. now i'm pitching. they let me pitch. which is a thrill. i never thought i would be on a

major league mound. 15,000 people there. there's a dodger game afterwards. but people would show up. so i'm there and i'm on the mound. it's hard ball. you have to throw it. not softball. so i throw. okay. i'm going to give them the heat. i started off with the heat. my fastball. my fastballs are around 46, 47 miles an hour. had sometimes 48. 46, 47. i started out, the only pitch i had was a change-up. and they said, you have to give another pitch. otherwise you can't have the change-up. i said, okay, i'll learn how to pitch.

so then i throw it like that. that's my best pitch. that's about 22, 23 miles an hour. and my sinker. which i call it a sinker. it just randal out of velocity. sometimes i would sink four or five feet in front of the batter. so that's my career. you're a great audience. >> i'm dying over here. you could have fallen in love with the bulls or the bears. why baseball for you? >> my dad was a cubs fan, a white sox fan. so being a rebel, naturally i

rebelled toward the cubs. and i found the white sox were very dull as a team compared to the cubs. because of the walk. and then he would bunt to second base. and then nellie would steal third and somebody would fly out to left field. and nobody would score. they would win 1-0. and it was just boring. with the cubs, you never know. like in the world series. >> all right. i'm done with this. this is embarrassing. >> stop the camera. >> it's over now. it's okay. i apologized.

that's what happened. that's why you're not coming back next week. make me look bad on camera. the find season of newhart is now available on dvd. and the cubs will kick off as will all of baseball, in a matter of days. the new season chicago champions, the cubs. that's our show tonight. thanks for watching. as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. >> hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time as we take a deep dive around the country. that's next time. see you then.

>> and by contributions to your pbs staying from viewers like you. thank you.

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